Union City, GA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Addressing community health

Description: Christian City, a 500-acre charitable campus near the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, provides housing and other support for people who are in need. The organization offers affordable housing older adults, as well as assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care. To encourage older people to lead healthier, more active lives, it operates a Senior Wellness program. The initiative also helps stave off social isolation, which cant contribute to physical and mental decline. This project added mile marker posts, a message board, side markers and signs identifying walking paths on the campus. In addition, Christian City provided residents with walkers with built-in pedometers. Following these improvements, the organization reported a 20 percent increase in participation in its walking program. Today, Christian city offers an array of other senior fitness activities, including Tai Chi and chair aerobics.

Myrtle Beach, SC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Addressing community health

Description: Using public art, the City of Myrtle Beach set out to spread the word about safe walking and biking, as well as COVID-19 public health protocols. To do this, the City hosted a competition for local artists of all ages, inviting them to submit designs with a safety theme. They then selected 10 winning designs and added text with safety messages to them. With the state Department of Transportation's blessing, the designs became colorful, vinyl wraps for traffic utility boxes at intersections around town. Organizers say the project demonstrated the value of public art, with residents and business owners looking for ways to replicate the results in other neighborhoods.

Indianapolis, IN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Addressing community health

Description: Staff at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana noticed that many food-insecure older adults had mobility challenges that prevented them from easily transporting their groceries. This forced many food pantry patrons to collect the amount of food they could carry rather than the amount they actually needed. To address this, the food bank purchased 54 shopping carts for agencies participating in its Senior Shopping Day program. To ensure the carts remained in the agencies' possession, Gleaners outfitted each one with a security tag. Project organizers say chronic hunger is particularly damaging for older adults, leaving them susceptible to chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease and depression. The new carts represent one way to customize hunger relief services for this population.